The Naked Man
Recap Ted ponders how long it will take to recover from being left at the altar by Stella, asking for advice from Lily, Marshall, Robin and, Barney. He soon finds out himself as he begins to talk to a woman he always sees at the elevator at work, Vicky. Slowly they get to know one another, until Ted blurts out that he got left at the altar. He rebounds into asking her out to a date, which she accepts. He comes home later that day, passing by Robin talking on the phone outside. When he enters his apartment, he finds Mitch, Robin's blind date, sitting naked on the couch. After an awkward exchange, Ted leaves and tells Mitch to take the seat cushion he's on with him, as it's trash now. After hearing from Lily that the blind date had been going badly, Ted goes back and confronts Mitch again, who tells Ted about his "move", The Naked Man, where one takes advantage of a distraction in order to get naked in front of their date in hopes of sex, by means of confidence or by pity. Ted tells the gang about the move's effectiveness ("two out of three times", Mitch says), and they proceed to rebuff the claim. Worried that Robin may shoot Mitch, they storm back to Ted's apartment to find a makeshift "Do not disturb" sign hanging from the doorknob. Convinced that The Naked Man indeed works, Barney believes it will revolutionize the one night stand, comparing it to the forward pass or the slam dunk, much to the chagrin of Lily, who still believes Barney has feelings for Robin. Barney likens himself to Batman, with his secret identities and "gadgets", and Mitch to Superman, stating that he "just rips off his clothes, and he's good to go." Ted is still amazed that The Naked Man worked on Robin. She tries to explain herself when Marshall calls her a slut, saying that the only reason to sleep with someone is true love, namely because he was recently strong armed into reading The Notebook by the secretary's book club at work. Everyone disagrees, and Lily claims she can name at least 50 reasons to sleep with someone while everyone but Marshall helps (some of the reasons mentioned include being unable to fall asleep, expiring condoms, and breakup sex). Stuck on 46, Lily resolves to finish her list as Barney tries to convince Ted into doing The Naked Man with Vicky on their upcoming date while he goes out to attempt The Naked Man himself. As Barney's getting ready, he calls Ted to let him know that he's going through with it. To his surprise, Ted is too after he realized that there was no future between him and Vicky, as she seems to be very rude. On their second date, Robin tries to start up small talk with Mitch, who realizes that they're on a "I'm not a slut" date, and tells Robin that she's out of his league. After debating which pose to display themselves in, Ted finds a copy of some of his favorite poetry in Vicky's apartment and decides to put his clothes back on. When he finds out that the book isn't even hers, he busts out The Naked Man, as does Barney on his date, and Lily on Marshall. Ted tells Lily and Marshall at the bar of his success with The Naked Man, and they tell him that it worked out for them as well. Robin, still trying to defend herself, brings Mitch with her to the bar. Marshall takes back what he said, to Robin's relief, and she lets Mitch leave. Ted thanks Mitch for the move, saying that it worked for everyone. Marshall decides to call Barney to see how it worked for him. As it turns out, Barney fails and was forced to leave her apartment naked. Even leaving his cell phone. Which was then thrown in the toilet after the call was ended. (The "Naked Man" having worked two out of three times; Ted and Lily succeeded while Barney failed) Ted proposes a toast to his hero Mitch, The Naked Man. Meanwhile. Barney is roaming the streets naked trying to get home. Embarrassed and having to hide from other people, he comes across some cheap suits on a rack outside but is not interested in any of them, so continues to roam naked. Continuity *One of Robin's reasons to have sex is "He said he loved you but you're not ready to say it back yet", which makes Ted give her a weird look. Ted says "I love you" to Robin on their first date in the , and they argue about him saying it too early in . * Lily informs Marshall that she once had sex with him because she couldn't fall asleep, having woken him by asking "Want to do it?". In , she complains that their relationship has devolved to the point of Marshall simply asking her this whenever they have sex. *Barney is amazed by the Naked Man move, praising it as a breakthrough in the science of having sex with women. His fascination is consistent with his systematic study of seduction and search for improvements, such as the Lemon Law. * Barney alludes to having performed a variant of the Naked Man in , when he explains that waiting naked in a girl's bed wearing whipped cream undies does not work. He also starts getting undressed in Robin's apartment when he thinks she wants to sleep with him in Zip, Zip, Zip. * Future Ted's list of strange things he has walked in on in the apartment includes seeing the goat on May 8th, 2009. He tells part of the story of the goat in , before realizing the incident took place a year later. *Ted goes through a similar period of being uncertain about when he is ready to date again in . Future References (Contains Spoilers) *One of Barney and Robin's reasons for having sex is to avoid having to find a hotel room. The group further discusses hooking up with someone to find a place to sleep in . *Barney reveals his own writings on the science of seduction in . *Don mentions reading about the Naked Man on "some guy's blog" when he tries it on Robin in . *The tale of the Goat concludes in , which indeed occurs in May 2009. *Mitch discovers the 2/3 success rate of the Naked Man on St. Patrick's Day in 2008, after it fails with the Mother in , where his career as a music teacher is also revealed. *Lily and Marshall's inability to discuss their sex life with others without it being obvious that they are talking about each other is again depicted in . He learns in that she tells Robin details, however, even while admitting in that Lily does not let him accept truths when playing Truth or Dare?. Gallery TheNakedMan1.png|Ted and Vicky flirt in the elevator. TheNakedMan2.png|Vicky agrees to have dinner with Ted. TheNakedMan3.png|Ted walks in on a naked Mitch, Robin's date. TheNakedMan4.png|Mitch explains the Naked Man. TheNakedMan5.png|Barney is shocked the Naked Man worked on Robin. TheNakedMan6.png|Lily tries to list 50 reasons to have sex. TheNakedMan7.png|Barney tells Ted to try the Naked Man with Vicky. TheNakedMan8.png|Lily continues working on her list, upsetting Marshall. TheNakedMan9.png|Ted and Vicky have dinner. TheNakedMan10.png|Barney goes home with Cristina. TheNakedMan11.png|Ted and Vicky's date starts to crumble. TheNakedMan12.png|Barney calls Ted to say he's about to do the Naked Man. TheNakedMan13.png|Ted tells Barney he's also going to do the Naked Man. TheNakedMan14.png|Robin goes out with Mitch again, to prove she's not a slut. TheNakedMan15.png|Ted presents the Naked Man to Vicky. TheNakedMan16.png|Vicky eyes a naked Ted. TheNakedMan17.png|Barney performs the Naked Man to Cristina. TheNakedMan18.png|Lily presents the Naked Man to Marshall. TheNakedMan19.png|Ted succeeds; Vicky starts to undress. TheNakedMan20.png|Lily succeeds; Marshall moves beside Lily. TheNakedMan21.png|Barney fails; Cristina yells at him to get out. TheNakedMan22.png|Ted thanks Mitch for teaching him the Naked Man. TheNakedMan23.png|The gang toast to Mitch. TheNakedMan24.png|Ted's voiceover compares Mitch to a superhero. Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *As Ted recalls strange occurrences at his apartment, one of them is a goat in his living room on May 8, 2009. The goat was first seen in Ted's bathroom on his 30th birthday as mentioned in Ted's voice-over narration in . During , Future Ted stated that the goat in his bathroom was actually on his 31st birthday, which would be April 25, 2009. *When Lily is about to write down the "50 reasons to have sex," she takes her pen out of her purse, takes off the cap, then grabs her cocktail napkin. But two camera shots later, she is again taking off the pen cap. She's actually putting the pen cap on the other end of the pen *When Barney's date yells at him and throws him out, as she turns back towards the camera her lips are visibly not moving, even though her voice can be heard. *When Ted is explaining the weird things he has walked in on at the apartment, a scene is shown dated from 2004 in which he walks in on Lily painting several gymnasts posing. If this had taken place in 2004, Lily would have still had red hair. However, seeing as the first season took place in 2005, it is possible she changed her hair later that year. *Towards the end when Mitch leaves, he grabs his coat from the coat hanger. But the scene later of Ted giving a toast to Mitch shows the coat is still there. Allusions and Outside References *The idea of 'The Naked Man' is actually first described in Doogie Howser, M.D.'s "Spell It...M-A-N!". The description parallels what Ted does with Vickie, but in Doogie Howser, the guy isn't as fortunate as Ted. *The ending of the episode is similar to that of Christopher Nolan's 2008 film, , where Commissioner Gordon provides a narration of how Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, but doesn't need. *When Ted is standing around naked in Vicky's apartment, he opens a book of love poems by Pablo Neruda and discovers it is bookmarked to his favorite poem, which appropriately is Desnuda Eres ("Naked, You Are.."). *Some of the poses they used referred to the Captain Morgan rum logo, Superman, the Heisman Trophy, Mr. Clean, the Coppertone Baby pose, Rodin's The Thinker, and actor Burt Reynolds. *The Naked man describes his technique as a mixture of surprise and pity or "shock and awww", a play on the military technique of rapid dominance known as Shock and awe. *Barney describes The Naked Man as being like a superhero, the Superman to Barney's Batman, contrasting the Barney complicated approach, gadgets, gimmicks, secret identities and suiting up, to the simple very opposite idea of taking it all off. *When Ted admits he is wearing tinted sunscreen because he wants his eyes to pop, it is a reference to makeup artist Carmindy from the television series What Not to Wear. Music *Gorgeous Behaviour - Marching Band Other Notes *At the end when Mitch is walking down the street, he has two shadows: one projected on the pavement and another projected onto the wall behind him. *According to DVD commentary, "The Naked Man" is a real concept that one of the writers performed "ten to twelve times" when he was younger. *The German episode title is "Nackter Mann", an exact translation. The French episode title is "Ciel, un homme nu", meaning "Oh My God, a Naked Man!". *International Airdate: Australia: June 10, 2009 on Channel 7; Germany: January 02, 2010 on ProSieben; United Kingdom: February 4, 2010 on E4. *The 4 crazy things Ted recalls having come home to are (in order of appearance): #November 26, 2004 - Two acrobats posing for one of Lily 's painting ("Sorry guys, I'm just gonna go with a bowl of fruit") #July 16, 2007 - Barney attempting to escape from chains while inside a water-filled tank with Lily & Robin standing by with axes and Marshall timing ("It's been twelve minutes") #December 15, 2006 - Robin defending the apartment against two armed would-be burglars by pointing her gun at them, Lily and Marshall are cowering on the couch ("Put the guns down now!") #May 8, 2009 - ("Baaaa") Lily's 50 Reasons to Have Sex #Because you can't get to sleep. #Make-up sex. #Break-up sex. #Your friend told you about a new position. #Revenge. #Rebound. #Paratrooping/Bangin' for roof. #Nothing good on TV. #Because you're in a hotel. #Curiosity. #It's raining. #It's half time. #Diet/exercise. #Celebrate recent weight loss. #You finally get the chance to show your childhood bed some action. #Prom night. #You're already at their place and don't want to have to move your car. #Show off new lingerie. #Celebrate major victory by favorite team and/or political candidate. #Your chance to do it in a specific location (ex: airplane, Burger King bathroom). #To prove we're not in a rut. #Stress relief. #Just shaved legs. #Forgot to buy a birthday present. #"Lets Get It On" by Marvin Gaye is playing on the radio. #Celebrating the joy of life after a near-death experience. #Your one chance with a celebrity. #Time an egg. #To avoid cleaning, studying or work of any kind. #She wants to. #It's cold outside. #Cheer someone up (pity). #Keeping up with the neighbors. #Your roommate is out of town and you can do it on the couch. #Some very protected sex to celebrate the fact that I'm not/we're not/you're not pregnant. #Practice. #They have air-conditioning and you don't. #Because he/she is from one of the countries you haven't had sex with a person from yet. #"Damn, your calves look good in those cargo shorts" sex. #Called/texted the wrong person but she was into it anyway. #Because she looked like your superhot cousin and this is the closest it'll ever get to being okay. #Breaking in a new apartment. #Because he said he loves you and you're not ready to say it back yet. #Wingman diving on the friend grenade. #Your condoms are about to expire. #It's getting a little hard. #Miscommunication (cheetos sex). #To reinforce good behavior (such as shaving + good dental hygiene). #To change the subject. #LOVE. Guests *Candace Moon - Cristina *Courtney Ford - Vicky *Adam Paul - Mitch *David Tran - Busboy *Kevin Michael Walsh - Burglar #1 *Jim Woods - Burglar #2 Reception * Donna Bowman of graded the episode "A-". http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-naked-man,13391/ * Cindy McLennan of rated the episode with a grade "A-". http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/the_naked_man_1.php * Michelle Zoromski of gave the episode 8.5 out of 10. http://tv.ign.com/articles/933/933740p1.html * The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 9.5 out of 10 stars. "...'What, Mr. Wang's is back in business?' ... 'Wow, this is getting a little hard. Forty-six.'..." References External links * * * Category:Episodes Category:Season 4 Category:Art Category:Artwork